The UN Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. By doing so, business, as a primary agent driving globalization, can help ensure that markets, commerce, technology and finance advance in ways that benefit economies and societies everywhere.

Introduction
 

  • The United Nations and Transnational Corporations

    Prof. Andreas Rasche, Copenhagen Business School

    When former secretary-general Kofi Annan addressed business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 1999, he not only started to initiate the Global Compact, but also, at the same time, fundamentally redefined the relationship between the private sector and the United Nations (UN) system. After its operational launch in 2000, the Global Compact swiftly emerged as the world’s leading corporate responsibility initiative with currently close to 7,000 business and more than 3,000 nonbusiness participants in nearly 140 countries.  more[...]

    The Author
    Prof. Andreas Rasche, Copenhagen Business School 
     

  • From Global Compact to Global Leadership

    Prof. V. Kasturi Rangan, Harvard Business School

    The global financial crisis of 2008 was a stark reminder of business’s role in society. When well governed and well led, the role of business transcends one of profitability for its owners and incentives for its managers. Its role is to create value for society. Profit is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Without profit, there is no growth, and without growth there is no development. But if business does not create value and instead divvies up the same pie over and over again for personal gains (remember the subprime mortgages, collateral debt obligations, and credit default swaps?), then it is bound to fail and cause havoc for society.  more[...]

    The Author
    Prof. V. Kasturi Rangan, Harvard Business School 
     

  • The Strength of Loose Couplings – The UN Global Compact as a Multistakeholder Initiative

    Prof. Andreas Rasche, Copenhagen Business School

    Multistakeholder initiatives such as the UN Global Compact organize their participants in specific ways. Most importantly, they have to bridge global (universal) principles and local (contextualized) implementation practices. Some initiatives have responded to this need by creating a nested network structure – that is, local networks that are embedded into a wider global “network of networks.” The UN Global Compact, for instance, has more than 100 local networks, which are connected through regional hubs, the Annual Local Network Forum, and interactions with the Global Compact Office. Stakeholder dialogue and collective action are emerging both within and among such networks.  more[...]

    The Author
    Prof. Andreas Rasche, Copenhagen Business School 
     
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Article

People behind

By Editorial Team

The UN Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. By doing so, business, as a primary driver of globalization, can help ensure that markets, commerce, technology and finance advance in ways that benefit economies and societies everywhere.  more[...]

 
 
UN Gebäude-UN Photo/Mark Garten
People behind

Visiting the Global Compact Office

By Dr. Elmer Lenzen

When I went to New York in March 2009, it was during the peak of the banking crisis and the self-doubts of the investment sector. There was a prevailing certainty that one economic era had come to an end, but ambiguity as to how the new era would look. Some of these elements are being intensively discussed and developed at the Global Compact Office: It is about lasting nature, transparency, responsible merchants, and the respectful handling of our planet.  more[...]

 
 
Management_Drei_Saeulen_Book
People behind

Georg Kell about the Global Compact

By Georg Kell (United Nations Global Compact)

Since the very beginning, Georg Kell has been Executive Director of the Global Compact. Due to his ongoing fervour the Global Compact today is fully integrated into the UN system. We spoke with Georg Kell about the economic crisis, the search for new confidence, and the renaissance of politics and ethics. His message is clear: We have to reward sustainable business models. And we have to take climate change much more seriously, or the future might be rough.  more[...]

 
 
 

The Compact in the Regions

 

  • Notable Shift Towards Holistic Understanding of CSR

    Matthias Stausberg, United Nations Global Compact

    It took its time but the Global Compact has become increasingly important in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over the last couple of years. UNGC spokesperson Matthias Stausberg explains in our interview that the understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a value driver is typical for the whole region.  more[...]

    The Author
    Matthias Stausberg, United Nations Global Compact 
     

  • Responsible Business Is the Key – The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Arab Economies

    Walid Nagi, UN Global Compact
    Habiba Al Marashi, Emirates Environmental Group (EEG)

    In this interview, Habiba Al Marashi, Chair of the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) and Board Member of the UN Global Compact, and Walid Nagi, Manager CSR and Corporate Communications at the Al-Mansour Holding and UNGC Regional Networks Manager MENA and Europe, talk about the drastic social changes, the examples companies can provide, and the importance of the business sector for sustainable development in the MENA region.  more[...]

    The Author
     
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Tools & Instruments

Strategy
Tools & Instruments
 

  • Beyond Commitment: An Introduction to the UN Global Compact Management Model

    United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)

    This articles describes an updated performance model that guides companies through the process of formally committing to, assessing, defining, implementing, measuring, and communicating a corporate sustainability strategy based on the Global Compact and its principles.  more[...]  login_required

    The Author
     

  • Communicating Progress

    Editorial Team

    When joining the Global Compact, companies make a commitment to issue an annual Communication on Progress (COP), a public disclosure to stakeholders (e.g., investors, consumers, civil society and Governments) on progress made in implementing the ten principles of the UN Global Compact, and in supporting broad UN development goals.  more[...]  login_required

    The Author
    Editorial Team
     

  • Assessing the Organizational Implementation of Corporate Citizenship

    Prof. Andreas Georg Scherer, University of Zurich
    Dr. Dorothée Baumann-Pauly, University of Zürich

    The Communication on Progress (COP) policy is the central component of the UN Global Compact’s integrity measures. The policy establishes a mandatory reporting requirement for businesses to report annually on their progress in implementing the Ten Principles of the UNGC.  more[...]  login_required

    The Author
     
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One Decade UNGC - Performing Record

UNGC 10th Anniversary
 
Anniversary
 

  • United Nations Global Compact Milestones

    Matthias Stausberg, United Nations Global Compact
    Dr. Elmer Lenzen

    Following a call to action by then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the 1999 World Economic Forum in Davos, the operational phase of the UN Global Compact was launched on July 26, 2000, at UN Headquarters in New York.  more[...]

    The Author
     

  • UN Global Compact Milestones

    Dr. Elmer Lenzen

    Following a call to action by then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the 1999 World Economic Forum in Davos, the operational phase of the UN Global Compact was launched on July 26, 2000, at UN Headquarters in New York.  more[...]

    The Author
    Dr. Elmer Lenzen
     

  • The Global Compact at 10: Review and Outlook

    Georg Kell, United Nations Global Compact

    Looking back at the past 10 years, the United Nations Global Compact has left its mark in a variety of ways, helping shape the conversation about corporate responsibility and diffusing the concept of a principle-based approach to doing business across the glob  more[...]

    The Author
    Georg Kell, United Nations Global Compact 
     
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